Haven't done a national team save in FM13, so I thought I'd give it a go with Croatia. Anyone have any experience with them?

There's obviously a lot of quality in the team, but they lack depth in defensive positions. Vedran Corluka, Dejan Lovren, and Jurica Buljat are all injured and unavailable for my opening friendly with Russia, leaving me very weak at center back. Made Gordon Schildenfeld and Domagoj Vida first choice with Mario Maloca providing cover. Are there any gems that I'm missing?

Ognjen Vukojevic is really the only defensive-minded midfielder I'm seeing, which is another weakness. I prefer to utilize an anchor man, but he doesn't really have the ideal aerial ability unfortunately (been using Javi Garcia as the position for my Southampton save, and he's been brilliant). If he goes down with an injury, I'm not sure who I'd use to add muscle to the midfield.

The strengths of the side are causing me problems as well (I know, I'm just a complainer). Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Rakitic, Milan Badelj, and even Niko Kranjcar all have enough quality for the first XI, but they obviously can't all be first choice. Figuring out how many creative players I can accommodate in my tactic and how to play them will be my top priority.

Very pleased with the fullbacks in the squad. Darijo Srna is world-class obviously and Sime Vrsaljko will be decent cover until Srna retires. I was pleasantly surprised by Manuel Pamic, who will rotate with Ivan Strinic at left back.

Utilizing the forward options Croatia has should be fun. Mandzukic is brilliant and will be first choice in any formation. If I play two forwards, a partnership with Jelavic should be productive. Ivica Olic has been one of my favorite players on Football Manager for years. Hopefully I can convince him to stick around for a few years, as his pace, fitness, and work rate make him a perfect sub or emergency starter.

Guess that's it. If anyone has played with Croatia before, or is playing with them now, post here and hopefully we can get some solid discussion going.

Switched up formation and players quite a bit in the first game, wanted to try a lot of different things, but I primarily used this formation:

Spoiler:4-1-2-1-2

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Spoiler:4-1-2-1-2

Scored in the 92nd minute to win 2-1 at Russia. Great result, but probably didn't deserve to win.

Squad doesn't have great wingers, so that's why I went narrow. Late in the game, I moved Srna to wing back instead of full back, and he provided some attacking width. Might continue with that strategy, but I don't really have a player who can do that from the left. Pranjic (who was injured for the friendly) might be able to do the job, but it wouldn't be ideal.

Considering trying out a formation like this:

Spoiler:formation

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Spoiler:formation

Fits the personnel pretty well, but might be difficult to execute.

Thanks for the recommendations. Radosevic looks like one to keep an eye on for the future, and Ademi looks like great cover for Vukojevic. He'll be in my next squad.

Sammir has been called up a few times, but hasn't yet been capped. There are a lot of options at AMC for Croatia, and I don't think he's good enough to warrant inclusion over Modric, Kovacic, Perisic, Rakitic, or Badelj in the one or two creative midfield spots. What's your experience with him?

The group (Belgium, Croatia, Scotland, Serbia, Macedonia, and Wales) doesn't have a top-quality team, but there's a lot of strength in depth, Scotland/Serbia are strong as 3rd and 4th toughest sides. Halfway through WCQs, my results have been underwhelming:

Spoiler:Table

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Spoiler:Table

Only loss was away to Belgium by a score of 3-1. I'm in a fine position, but scoring only 6 goals through 5 games is worrisome going forward. Thankfully, Mandzukic has been in fantastic form for country, scoring 5 w/ an average rating of 7.7.

Been switching up tactics quite a bit (which may be the problem), because I can't find anything that's worked well. My biggest concern is how/where to play Modric. He's been poor for me through 5 qualifiers and 2 friendlies, despite the fact that he's been unbelievable for Real Madrid (45 appearances, 25 assists, 7.64 average rating).

What formation have other people utilized for Croatia?

Not exactly related, but check out the how the Croatian Champions League representative fared in the group stage:

Spoiler:Table

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Spoiler:Table

Spoiler:Results

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Spoiler:Results

Brutal. My poor back-up right back (Vrsaljko) earned a 2.8 rating in the match at Juve.

He has been good in the Croatian league but not good enough for the national team as there are better young players. Have you tried playing Modric AMC as a Advanced playmaker? Think thats where he gets his full potential.

Unlucky with the scoring but as soon as you find a tactic that works it will be great. In my opinion you should play 4-2-3-1, I know that there no good wingers but you can play Srna as a winger and you have Perisic,Abdurahimi,Tomecak and some more. It worked for me last year.

WOW 0-14 thats just amazing from Juve and amazingly bad from Dinamo. I myself am playing as Dinamo and I'm in the 5-6th season and I'm trying to become the coach of Croatia but it's hard when they are 3rd in the world rankings and I can't even get the U19 or U21 job because Stimac( the manager ) hates me because he supports Hajduk and they are rivals with Dinamo who I'm managing.

There are some young players I can recommend for you. Look at Halilovic,Ademi,Vida,Kovacic,Kramaric from Dinamo, Andrijasevic,Basic,Maloca,Blazevic from Hajduk and Bubnjic from Slaven Belupo I think,